On September 30, 2024, Pete Rose, aged 83, died of natural causes. The legend, who was banned from baseball in 1989 for betting on his own team, is the all-time record holder for some of the most famous records in baseball history: number of hits, number of games played, and number of at-bats.
In his storied career, Rose played mainly for the Cincinnati Reds, which was known as the Big Red Machine during his time in the 1970s due to its lineup of great players, including Rose, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Tony Pérez, and others. He won two World Series titles with the team in 1975 and 1976, and another with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1980, helping the team to their first World Series. Over his 24-year career spanning from 1963 to 1986, he broke Ty Cobb’s “unbreakable” hits record and set his own at 4,256 which still stands today. He also played in 17 All-Star games in a record five different positions (second baseman, left fielder, right fielder, third baseman, first baseman). He holds 15 Major League records in total, including but not limited to times on base (5,929), singles (3,215), number of seasons with 200 or more hits (10), and most seasons with 150 or more games played (17).
Unfortunately for Rose, it would come out in 1989 that while managing the Cincinnati Reds, he had bet on some of the team’s games. According to the rules of Major League Baseball, betting on games you’re associated with in any way has been disallowed since 1927. He vowed that he had never bet against his own team and had not attempted to fix games, but zero tolerance is permitted. He was banned from associating with Major League Baseball for life. Since the Baseball Hall of Fame cannot induct banned individuals, Pete Rose may be the single most famous baseball player not in the Hall of Fame.
